Hindawi Publishing Corporation

Child Development Research

Volume 2012, Article ID 124939, 8 pages
doi:10.1155/2012/124939

Research Article
Attitudes to Mathematics in Primary School Children

Ann Dowker,1 Karina Bennett,2 and Louise Smith2

1 Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK
2 St Hilda’s College, Cowley Place, Oxford OX4 1DY, UK

Correspondence should be addressed to Ann Dowker, ann.dowker@psy.ox.ac.uk

Received 15 June 2012; Revised 24 September 2012; Accepted 8 October 2012

Academic Editor: Helga Krinzinger

Copyright © 2012 Ann Dowker et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

44 Grade 3 children and 45 Grade 5 children from English primary schools were given the British abilities scales basic number skills
subtest, and a Mathematics Attitude and Anxiety Questionnaire, using pictorial rating scales to record their Self-rating for maths,
Liking for maths, Anxiety about maths, and Unhappiness about poor performance in mathematics. There were few year group
differences in attitudes. Boys rated themselves higher than girls, but did not differ significantly in actual performance. Overall,
Anxiety was not related to actual performance, but Self-rating was. This relationship between Self-rating and actual performance
seemed to develop between Grade 3 and Grade 5. Implications of the findings are discussed.

1. Introduction themselves suffer from mathematics anxiety, and to pre-

Mathematics depends not only on cognitive abilities but
also on emotional factors and attitudes. Several studies
have shown that emotional factors may play a large part
in mathematical performance, with mathematics anxiety
playing a particularly large role [1–3]. One possible reason
for the negative association between mathematics anxiety
and actual performance is that people who have higher
levels of math anxiety are more likely to avoid activities
and situations that involve mathematics and, thus, have
less practice [4]. Mathematics anxiety might also influence
performance more directly, by overloading working memory.
For example, Ashcraft and Krause [5] reported that highly
math-anxious individuals had significantly lower working
memory capacities in mathematics-related tasks than indi-
viduals with low levels of mathematics anxiety.
Relationships between mathematics anxiety and perfor-
mance may also be in the other direction. Poor mathematical
attainment may lead to mathematics anxiety, as a result of
repeated experiences of failure. Indeed, there is likely to be
a vicious circle, where anxiety and performance affect each
other negatively. Maloney and Beilock [6] point out that
the development of mathematics anxiety is likely to be due
both to social factors, such as exposure to teachers who
existing difficulties in numerical cognition, and that those
with initial mathematical difficulties are also likely to be more
vulnerable to the negative social influences.
Although mathematics anxiety is a major focus for
research, not all attitudes to mathematics are negative, and
some people express a strong liking for mathematics [7]. This
seems to be particularly the case for mathematically gifted
people [8] but is not restricted to them.
Most studies of attitudes to mathematics have involved
older children and adults. It is particularly important to
investigate the early development of attitudes to mathe-
matics, if we are to understand the relationships between
these and actual performance, and if possible to prevent the
development of strongly negative attitudes. The relatively
few studies that have looked at younger children’s attitudes
to mathematics have usually shown positive attitudes, with
most children claiming to like mathematics ([9–11]). How-
ever, studies suggest that attitudes may deteriorate with age,
especially through the secondary school period [9, 12, 13],
but also within the primary age group ([10, 13]). One study
by Gierl and Bisanz [14] gave somewhat more ambiguous
results, indicating an increase in mathematics anxiety but
also an increase in liking for maths over the later elementary
school years.
2 Child Development Research
Most studies of secondary school children and adults
have been consistent in showing actual performance in
mathematics tends to be related positively to liking for
mathematics and to high self-ratings in mathematics, and
negatively to mathematics anxiety (e.g., [2, 5, 15–17] Lam et
al., 2000 ). This is the case not only for advanced mathematics
but for basic magnitude comparison skills [18].
Studies of the relationships between attitudes to maths
and performance in younger children have not resulted in
as clear results as those for older children. Ma and Kishor
[17] found that the relationships between attitudes and
performance increase with age. Cain-Caston [19] found
little relationship between mathematics performance and
attitudes in a sample of 8- to 9-year olds. Thomas and
Dowker [20] (also see [10]) and Krinzinger et al. [21]
found that 6- to 8-year olds’ mathematical performance was
related to Liking mathematics and to Self-rating of ability
in the subject, but not to anxiety. Krinzinger et al. [21]
failed to find either longitudinal or concurrent relationships
between anxiety and performance in young children. On
the other hand, relationships between mathematics anxiety,
other attitudes, and actual performance have been found in
primary school children in a white South African community
[22], in New Zealand [23], and in several studies in the
United States ([24–27]).
It is thus possible that the relationships between attitudes
and performance become clearer in the later primary
years. The present study aimed to examine relationships
between mathematical performance, mathematics anxiety,
unhappiness over poor performance, liking for mathematics,
and self-rating in mathematics in children of midprimary age
(Grade 3; age 7-8) and later primary age (Grade 5; age 9 to
10).
On the basis of the earlier studies using a similar method
[20, 21], it was predicted that mathematics performance
would be related to liking mathematics and to self-rating
of ability in the subject, but not to anxiety. It was also
predicted, especially on the basis of Thomas and Dowker’s
[20] results that there would be specific independent rela-
tionships between liking mathematics and self-rating, and
between anxiety and performance-related unhappiness, and
that otherwise there would be little correlation between the
attitude variables.
Another aim was to investigate changes between Grade
3 and Grade 5. It was predicted that older children might
show more negative attitudes. We also aimed to look at
whether the relationships between the different variables
might change between Grade 3 and Grade 5. Although any
such analysis would have to be tentative due to reduced
numbers, it was predicted that the relationships between
mathematics performance and other attitude variables, and
especially between mathematics performance and self-rating,
might not be noticeable at Grade 3 but might become
significant at Grade 5. This prediction is based on the
assumption that children’s experiences of success and failure
might influence their attitudes toward and confidence in
mathematics, and that such experiences and their effects
would become increasingly salient during the later primary
school years.
The study also aimed to look at gender differences in
mathematics performance and attitudes. Most current stud-
ies suggest that females do not perform lower in mathematics
than males, but that they do tend to rate themselves lower,
and to experience more anxiety [28, 29]. The study aimed to
investigate whether such gender differences would already be
present in young children.
2. Method
2.1. Participants. The participants were 89 children taken
from two state primary schools in Brentwood, Essex and
one in Enfield, London. They were selected randomly from
the third- and fifth-grade classes in these schools. These
were nonselective schools with varied intakes, but situated in
predominantly relatively middle-class areas. They included
44 children (21 boys and 23 girls) in Grade 3 and 45 children
(21 boys and 24 girls) in Grade 5. The Grade 3 children had a
mean age of 90.1 months (s.d. 3.48) and the Grade 5 children
had a mean age of 112.39 months (s.d. 6.51).
2.2. Materials and Procedure. In order to measure their
attitudes, children completed the Mathematics Attitudes and
Anxiety Questionnaire [20, 30]. The attitude questionnaire
consists of 28 questions which focused on 7 areas of maths:
maths in general, written sums, mental sums, easy maths,
difficult maths, maths tests, and understanding the teacher.
For each item, children were asked about their Self-rating
(“How good are you?”) on a scale consisting of ticks and
crosses (“very good” to “very bad”); Liking for the items
(“How much do you like it?”) on a scale consisting of
sweets and wasps (“like very much” to “hate very much”);
Anxiety about them (“How worried would you feel?”) on
a scale of facial expressions based on Roger Hargreaves’
“Mr. Men” picture-book characters Mr. Happy and Mr.
Worry (“very relaxed” to “very worried”); Unhappiness at
poor performance (“How unhappy would you feel if you
did badly?”) on a scale consisting of faces with frowning
or happy faces (“very unhappy” to “very happy”). Possible
rating scores for each item ranged from 1 to 5, so the total
possible scores on each scale ranged from 7 to 35. Scores
were calculated so that a higher score represented a more
positive attitude. Thus, the Anxiety and Unhappiness scores
represent relative freedom from Anxiety and Unhappiness. In
places where there may be ambiguity, the paper will refer to
“(Non-)Anxiety” and “(Non-)Unhappiness”.
3. Results
Table 1 shows the BNS standard score and the attitude scores
according to gender and school year.
3.1. Effects of Gender and School Year on Mathematical
Performance and Attitude Scores. An ANOVA was carried
out with Year Group (Grade 3 versus Grader 5) and Gender
(Male versus Female) as the grouping factor, and BNS
standard score and the attitude scores of Liking, Self-rating,
Anxiety, and Unhappiness as the dependent variables. There
Child Development Research 3

Table 1: Maths performance and attitude scores by year group and gender.

BAS Basic Number

Year group Gender Self-rating Liking (Non-)Anxiety (Non-)Unhappiness
Skills standard score
Boys (n = 21) 109.14 (13.42) 28.9 (4.31) 25.62 (7.89) 23.19 (7.57) 22.71 (4.36)
Year 3
Girls (n = 23) 112.65 (12.8) 27.26 (4.46) 24.43 (5.56) 23.0 (6.33) 21.04 (5.23)
Total year 3 (n = 44) 110.98 (13.07) 28.04 (4.42) 25.0 (6.72) 23.09 (6.87) 21.84 (4.86)
Boys (n = 21) 120.52 (13.61) 29.05 (4.76) 24.62 (8.52) 23.05 (4.86) 21.00 (4.86)
Year 5
Girls (n = 24) 115.71 (16.59) 25.75 (5.56) 24.46 (5.73) 23.46 (6.21) 19.71 (5.7)
Total year 5 (n = 45) 117.96 (15.29) 27.29 (5.4) 24.53 (7.08) 23.27 (5.57) 20.31 (5.3)
Total boys (n = 42) 114.83 (14.54) 28.98 (5.56) 25.12 (8.12) 23.11 (6.28) 21.86 (4.64)
Total girls (n = 47) 114.21 (14.78) 26.49 (5.06) 24.45 (5.58) 23.23 (6.21) 20.36 (5.46)
Total (n = 89) 114.51 (14.59) 27.66 (4.93) 24.76 (6.87) 23.18 (6.21) 21.07 (5.11)
Means are given with standard deviations in brackets.

was a significant effect of Year Group on basic number skills
standard score (F(1, 85) = 5.7; P = 0.019; ηP 2 = 0.063),
indicating higher scores by the Grade 5 children. There was
a significant effect of Gender on Self-rating (F(1,85) = 5.93;
P = 0.018; ηP 2 = 0.064), indicating higher self-rating by
boys. No other effects were significant.
Because there were year group differences in BNS stand-
ard score, and because the year groups differed in both
chronological age and school experience, an ANCOVA
was then carried out including BNS standard score and
chronological age in months (Age ) as covariates. Again, Year
Group (Grade 3 versus Grade 5) and Gender (Male versus
Female) were the grouping factors, and BNS standard score
and the attitude scores of Liking, Self-rating, Anxiety, and
Unhappiness were the dependent variables. BNS standard
score made a significant independent contribution to the
variance in Self-rating (F(1, 83) = 6.58; P = 0.012; ηP 2 =
0.073). Age made a significant independent contribution to
Unhappiness (F(1, 83) = 13.79; P < 0.001; ηP 2 = 0.143).
After controlling the effects of the covariates, Gender still
had a significant effect on Self-rating (F(1, 83) = 5.64; P =
0.02; ηP 2 = 0.064). Year Group now had a significant
effect on Unhappiness (F(1, 83) = 16.38; P < 0.001; ηP 2 =
0.165).
3.2. Correlations between Attitudes and Mathematics Per-
formance. Pearson correlation coefficients were obtained
between the attitude scores of Liking, Self-rating, Anxiety
and Unhappiness, BNS standard score, and age in months.
These are shown in Table 2.
3.3. What Attitudes Predict Mathematical Performance?
Table 3 shows entry-type linear regressions on each of
the test variables, with the other variables as predictors.
First, in order to investigate more directly the influence
of attitudes on mathematical performance an entry-type
linear regression was carried out with BNS standard score
as the dependent variable, and Liking, Self-rating, (Non-
)Anxiety and (Non-)Unhappiness as the predictors. The only
significant predictor was Self-rating.
Similar analyses were then carried out for each of the
attitude variables, with BNS standard score and the other
attitude variables as predictors.
Self-rating was predicted by all the other variables except
(Non-)Anxiety; BNS standard score, (Non-)Unhappiness,
and Liking were all significant independent predictors of
Self-rating.
Liking was independently predicted by Self-rating and
(Non-)Anxiety.
(Non-)Anxiety was independently predicted only by Lik-
ing, though (Non-)Unhappiness almost reached significance
as a predictor (P = 0.058).
(Non-)Unhappiness was independently predicted only by
Self-rating, though, as expected from the previous analysis,
(Non-)Anxiety almost reached significance as a predictor.
The same analyses were then carried out separately for
the group of third-grade children (Table 4) and the group of
fifth-grade children (Table 5).
The findings for third-grade children are shown in
Table 4.
None of the attitude variables predicted BNS standard
score. Liking and (Non)-Unhappiness predicted Self-Rating.
Self-Rating and (Non-)Anxiety predicted Liking. Self-Rating
and Liking predicted (Non-)Anxiety. Self-rating predicted
(Non-)Unhappiness.
The findings for fifth-grade children are shown in
Table 5.
Self-rating was the only significant predictor of BNS
standard score. Similarly, BNS standard score was the only
significant predictor of Self-rating, (Non-)Anxiety was the
only significant predictor of Liking, and Liking was the
only significant predictor of (Non-)Anxiety. No predictor
approached significance for (Non-)Unhappiness.
4. Discussion
The results support previous studies with primary age
children in suggesting that attitudes to mathematics are
generally positive in the primary age group. All attitude
scores, except for (Non-)Unhappiness at poor performance,
were considerably higher than the notional neutral score of 3,
though questions could be raised as to whether such a rating
4 Child Development Research

Table 2: Correlations between attitude scores, British abilities scales basic number skills standard score, and age in months.

Basic Number
Self rating Liking (Non-)Anxiety (Non-)Unhappiness Age in months
Skills: standard score
Self-rating 1
Liking 0.264∗ 1
(Non-)Anxiety 0.191 0.413∗∗ 1
∗∗
(Non-)Unhappiness 0.329 0.178 0.268∗ 1
∗
Basic Number Skills: Standard score 0.255 −0.1 −0.069 0.021 1
Age in months −0.055 −0.083 0.232 0.075 0.231 1
∗P < 0.05 ∗∗P < 0.01.

Table 3: Entry-type multiple regressions on British abilities scales basic number skills standard score and the attitude variables: whole group.

Regression on Basic
Regression on Regression on Regression on Regression on
Number Skills
Self-rating Liking (non-)Anxiety (non-)Unhappiness
standard score
Degrees of freedom 4 4 4 4 4
Residual 84 84 84 84 84
R2 0.106 0.484 0.226 0.211 0.159
F 2.502 6.414 6.148 5.631 3.96
P 0.048∗ 0.000∗∗ 0.000∗∗ 0.000∗∗ 0.005∗∗
Predictors:
Basic number skills —
β — 0.286 −1.415 0.034 −0.047
t — 2.973 −1.402 −0.333 −0.446
P — 0.004∗∗ 0.164 0.74 0.657
Self-rating
β 0.333 — 0.236 0.021 0.306
t 2.973 — 2.219 0.191 2.795
P 0.004∗∗ — 0.029∗ 0.849 0.006∗∗
Liking —
β −0.163 0.234 — 0.368 0.006
t −1.402 2.219 — 3.591 0.049
P 0.104 0.029∗ — 0.001∗∗ 0.961
(Non-)Anxiety
β 0.039 0.021 0.361 — 0.212
t 0.333 0.191 3.591 — 1.919
P 0.74 0.849 0.001∗∗ — 0.058
(Non-)Unhappiness
β −0.05 0.278 0.005 0.198 —
t −0.446 2.973 0.049 1.919 —
P 0.657 0.006∗∗ 0.961 0.058 —
∗P < 0.05 ∗∗ P < 0.01.

really does represent “neutrality”. There was little difference
in attitude between Grade 3 and Grade 5, contradicting
the hypothesis that attitudes might deteriorate during this
period.
In this particular group, the standard scores on a stan-
dardized arithmetic test were rather higher in Grade 5 than in
Grade 3, giving rise to the possibility that group differences
in mathematical attainment were masking deterioration in
attitudes. However, even after controlling both arithmetic
standard score and chronological age, there continued to be
little effect of year group on attitude.
The exception was (non-)Unhappiness at poor perfor-
mance, where the year group effect did become significant.
However, this reflected a more positive attitude in Grade 5
Child Development Research 5

Table 4: Entry-type multiple regressions on British abilities scales basic number skills standard score and the attitude variables: Grade 3
alone.
Regression on Basic
Regression on Regression on Regression on Regression on
Number Skills
Self-rating Liking (non-)Anxiety (non-)Unhappiness
standard score
Degrees of freedom 4 4 4 4 4
Residual 39 39 39 39 39
R2 0.01 0.318 0.281 0.204 0.264
F 0.095 4.552 3.45 2.503 3.496
P 0.984 0.004∗∗ 0.017∗ 0.058 0.016∗
Predictors:
Basic number skills:
β — 0.019 −0.016 −0.011 0.08
t — −0.145 −0.112 −0.074 0.583
P — 0.885 0.911 0.942 0.563
Self-rating
β −0.028 — 0.414 −0.054 0.417
t −0.145 — 2.035 −0.314 2.74
P 0.885 — 0.01∗ 0.755 0.009∗∗
Liking
β −0.021 0.382 — 0.322 −0.121
t −0.112 2.707 — 2.035 −0.764
P 0.911 0.01∗ — 0.049∗ 0.449
(Non-)Anxiety
β −0.013 −0.047 0.298 — 0.288
t −0.074 −0.314 2.035 — 1.957
P 0.942 0.785 0.049∗ — 0.058
(Non-)Unhappiness
β 0.108 0.387 −0.122 0.311 —
t 0.583 2.74 −0.764 1.957 —
P 0.563 0.009∗∗ 0.449 0.058 —
∗P < 0.05 ∗∗P < 0.01.

than Grade 3 children. Age was also separately significant as a
covariate, and it correlated negatively with this attitude vari-
able. As Unhappiness was not significantly related to either
age or year group when they were considered separately,
these results should be taken with caution at this point, but
attempts should be made to replicate them in future studies.
It should be noted that there may be more ambiguity
about the positive or negative nature of Unhappiness at
poor performance than over the other attitudes. Certainly,
a high level of unhappiness at poor performance is a negative
attitude, but at the end of the scale where children are
relatively free of such unhappiness, individual differences in
scores may be more reflective of a preference for performing
well, arguably a positive attitude. Perhaps the somewhat
puzzling results here could reflect this ambiguity.
Correlational analyses indicate little relationship between
chronological age and the attitude variables, supporting the
findings with regard to year group effects. As predicted, they
support the earlier results of [10] and Krinzinger et al. [21],
in showing no consistent relationship between mathematics
Anxiety and performance among primary school children.
There was, however, a significant relationship between Anx-
iety and Liking for mathematics; not surprisingly, a Liking
for mathematics was strongly associated with a freedom from
Anxiety.
The only attitude variable that correlated significantly
with actual performance was Self-rating. Those who rated
themselves higher at maths performed better. Self-rating
appeared indeed to be the only variable that was strongly
related to all the other variables. As well as being related to
actual performance, it was related to Liking for maths and to
freedom from Anxiety. After controlling for other variables
in regression analyses, it was also related to freedom from
performance-related Unhappiness.
Somewhat unexpectedly, there was no significant rela-
tionship between Liking for maths and actual performance,
though Liking for maths was significantly related to other
attitude variables.
It had been predicted that Anxiety and Unhappiness
at poor performance might be strongly and independently
6 Child Development Research

Table 5: Entry-type multiple regressions on British abilities scales basic number skills standard score and the attitude variables: Grade 5
alone.
Regression on basic
Regression on Regression on Regression on Regression on
number skills
self-rating liking (non)anxiety (non)unhappiness
standard score
Degrees of freedom 4 4 4 4 4
Residual 40 40 40 40 40
R2 0.31 0.337 0.275 0.281 0.103
F 4.495 5.084 3.794 3.903 1.154
P 0.004∗∗ 0.002∗∗ 0.01∗ 0.009∗∗ 0.346
Predictors:
Basic number skills —
β — 0.522 −0.157 −0.15 −0.05
t — 3.983 −0.979 −0.939 −0.277
P — 0.000∗∗ 0.334 0.353 0.784
Self-rating
β −0.028 — 0.135 0.133 0.243
t −0.145 — 0.821 0.813 1.354
P 0.885 — 0.416 0.421 0.183
Liking
β −0.021 0.123 — 0.436 0.087
t −0.112 0.821 — 3.082 0.498
P 0.911 0.416 — 0.004∗∗ 0.621
(Non)anxiety
β −0.013 0.122 0.44 — 0.129
t −0.074 0.813 3.082 — 0.735
P 0.942 0.421 0.004∗∗ — 0.467
(Non)unhappiness
β 0.108 0.18 0.021 0.103 —
t 0.583 1.354 0.498 0.735 —
P 0.563 0.183 0.621 0.467 —
∗P < 0.05 ∗∗P < 0.01.

correlated with one another but not with the other attitude
variables, and that Liking for maths and Self-rating might
be strongly and independently correlated with one another
but not with the other attitude variables. This prediction
was not entirely borne out. Self-rating and Liking for maths
did show an independent relationship, but Self-rating was
also independently related to the other attitude variables.
Liking for maths was correlated with Anxiety as well as Self-
rating. There was only a weak relationship between Anxiety
and performance Unhappiness, and each correlated more
strongly with other factors: Anxiety with Liking for maths,
and performance Unhappiness with Self-rating.
The results of separate regression analyses for different
year groups suggest that, although there are few age or year
group differences in the attitude scores themselves, there
may be some differences in the relationships between the
variables. A great deal of caution is needed in interpreting
these results, because of the reduced sample sizes in these
analyses, resulting in relatively low statistical power. It is
possible that there were some small effects that would only
have become obvious in larger samples. However, the results
do support the hypothesis that the relationship between self-
rating and actual performance may develop between Grade
3 and Grade 5. There was no relationship between the two
variables in Grade 3 children. In Grade 3, none of the
attitude variables predicted mathematical performance, and
Self-rating was predicted by Liking for maths and freedom
from Anxiety, but not by performance. In Grade 5, by
contrast, there was a very strong and specific relationship
between Self-rating and actual performance. This finding
may suggest that children become more aware of their
mathematical performance in relation to that of their peers
as they become older, either because of generally greater
self-awareness, or because of greater experience of tests and
teacher assessments. Alternatively, or additionally, it may be
that children’s self-assessment has an increasing influence on
their motivation, and thereby on their performance, as they
get older.
The only significant gender difference was in self-rating,
where boys rated themselves higher than girls did. There
Child Development Research
were no gender differences in actual performance or in
other attitudes. This supports findings from previous studies
that indicate that males tend to rate themselves higher than
females in mathematics, although at least in recent studies
the genders usually perform similarly. Future research should
investigate whether this finding is specific to self-rating in
mathematics, where it may reflect existing stereotypes about
the subject, or whether it might indicate generally higher self-
ratings by boys in other subjects as well.
One key limitation of this study is of course that
the sample is relatively small. It is important for future
studies to extend both the number and the range of the
sample. For example, the children in the sample were
attending schools in relatively middle-class catchment areas
and, perhaps linked to this fact, were generally performing
at somewhat above average levels in mathematics. The
mean standard score on the basic number skills test was
114.51, as compared with an assumed population mean
standard score of 100. It is possible that a lower-attaining
group, or one including a higher proportion of children
from low-SES backgrounds, might show more negative
attitudes and/or stronger relationships between attitudes and
performance.
Also, it is important to carry out cross-cultural com-
parisons. This study aligns with most similar non-American
studies (e.g., [17, 21]), in suggesting that younger children
do not show a significant relationship between mathematics
anxiety and actual mathematical performance, but, as indi-
cated in the Introduction, most American studies have given
contrasting results (e.g., [24–26]). It would be interesting
to investigate whether there is some difference in cultural
attitudes or in methods of mathematics education that
contributes to this disparity. It would also be desirable to
investigate young children’s attitudes to mathematics in a
wider variety of cultures.
It could be argued that a questionnaire measure is not
ideal as a sole measure of attitudes in young children, or
perhaps in any group. In future studies, it would be desirable
to include other measures: for example implicit attitude
tests [31], behavioural measures such as children’s responses
when given a choice between activities with and without
mathematical content, and perhaps physiological indicators
of anxiety. It would also be desirable to use a wider variety
of mathematics tests, in particular, to use tests of mental as
well as written arithmetic, as the former is more likely to
be affected by the increased load that anxiety may place on
working memory ([5, 25]).
Despite such potential limitations, the study yields some
important conclusions. Young children appear to show
relatively positive attitudes to mathematics, though a larger
sample of different ages would be needed to confirm this.
They show little relationship between mathematics anxiety
and mathematical performance, but they do show a rela-
tionship between self-rating and mathematical performance,
which seems to develop during the later primary years.
There are also significant relationships between self-rating
and other attitudes. It is thus arguable that self-rating, rather
than mathematics anxiety, is the key factor in the primary
school age group, and that perhaps researchers on younger
7
children’s attitudes to mathematics should focus more on
self-rating.
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